Final museum preparations underway; celebration scheduled

Published: Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 04:40 PM.

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2006 – Destination Cleveland County begins as a citizen task force to work on two economic development projects, the Don Gibson Theatre (which opened in November 2009) and the soon-to-open Earl Scruggs Center

2008 – Local capital campaign launched, which has to date raised more than $8.2 million; master plan completed for Earl Scruggs Center

2009 – Earl Scruggs, family members and friends filmed for use in Scruggs Center

2010 – Exhibit designs for center completed

2011 – Bidding and renovations began on Scruggs Center

2012 – Exhibit fabrication for Scruggs Center underway

2013 – Reviews of films, scripts, text panels and other exhibits; final fabrication of exhibit cases and interactive media components

That’s the day the opening of the Earl Scruggs Center, a state-of-the-art interactive history museum named for the famed native musician, will be celebrated, organizing group Destination Cleveland County announced Thursday.

The celebration will be the culmination of nearly a decade of work by DCC, the organization also responsible for launching the Don Gibson Theatre.

The center itself – which will be located inside the old courthouse on the uptown Shelby square – is expected to open to visitors in late November or early December, said JT Scruggs, a DCC representative and nephew of the late Earl.

“We’ve taken our local history and are making it live,” said Brownie Plaster, DCC chairwoman, referencing the center’s focus on both Cleveland County and Southern American history. “That’s what this is all about. Our goal is the economic impact and vitality of the community. You only get one chance to do a project like this right, and we’re oh so close.”

Mix of new, old

On Thursday, The Star received a sneak peek into the center, where project donors received the first glimpse just hours before.

The center building itself is now a mixture of the past and the present.

An old jail cell door still stands on a second-floor wall. Old light fixtures still illuminate the areas that will house exhibits. Historic banisters lead to the upstairs cavities, where old windows offer a glimpse to the surrounding court square.

Visitors will enter the center first through the adjacent former well house building, which DCC representatives said will honor members of the Weathers family, a longtime prominent Shelby family that included former Star publisher Lee B. Weathers.

The pattern on the floor simulates a five-string banjo, and the small room will include a ticket office, as well as promotional information for happenings in the county.

DCC officials said $2.5 million has been put into the renovation of the buildings for the center, including the nearly 10,000-square-foot former courthouse. Officials said the county and other agencies have helped with funding, but that nearly 50 percent of the support has come from private local donors.

The rotunda in the center of the courthouse’s first floor will house Scruggs family instruments. The room is surrounded by four exhibit rooms that will tell the stories of Cleveland County’s early history, how music has impacted the Southern way of life and how Earl ascended to be synonymous with the banjo and bluegrass music here and worldwide.

Technology will be part of every visitor’s experience – from a life-size iPad that will allow people to touch and play different instruments to video screens with knobs to control instruction on how a banjo is played to electronic shades that block sunlight.

“This is one of the things that’s going to put us on the map,” Plaster said in reference to the iPad. “When you get your ticket for the center, you’ll be able to plug into exhibits with an earbud.”

History in the making

Seven years ago this month, a group from Cleveland County visited with state cultural resources officials, early work toward making the Scruggs Center a reality, Plaster said.

“We were told 93 percent of museums are in the red, and only 7 percent are in the black,” she said. “And we were told it would take us seven to nine years to open.”

DCC leaders have since launched a capital campaign that to date has raised more than $8.2 million, worked to secure grants to help fund the center, researched other museums for successful practices, and obtained more than 16,000 artifacts for the project.

Physical work on the center itself continues.

Fabricators and exhibitors are expected to enter soon to install materials and train museum operators. That work is expected to take 54 days to complete, JT Scruggs said, with the opening soon to follow.

Earl, who died in March 2012, would have been 90 on Jan. 6, 2014.

“The family of Earl Scruggs is excited about the news that the grand opening for the Earl Scruggs Center is scheduled for Jan. 11, 2014,” Gary Scruggs, Earl’s son, said in a statement released by DCC. “My father fully endorsed DCC’s determination and efforts to establish a world-class facility in Shelby’s venerable ‘old courthouse,’ and items of historical significance in his life and career will be on display. The Earl Scruggs Center will be a fun and educational experience for people of all ages.”

A big draw near, far

Visitors walk up to the center’s locked doors constantly.

Those visitors can expect to be able to enter the building in about three months – and soon after the grand opening will celebrate the history museum. DCC plans to announce in the coming weeks the musical guests who will perform at the opening festivities.

“For people we’re bringing in, we think we can sell 1,200 to 1,300 tickets easy, based on who they are,” JT Scruggs said, noting events will include a performance at Malcolm Brown Auditorium.

Once the center is open, county residents will get in free on Wednesdays each week, Plaster said.

But DCC leaders say they have also communicated with people near and far about attending the historic center.

“It has been amazing to see the collaboration of the citizens, the city and the county to pull together to create this unique destination which is poised to become a national and international destination,” Emily Epley, executive director of the Earl Scruggs Center, said in a prepared statement. “We have folks coming from Japan and South Africa in the coming months and can’t wait to welcome the world to the community where Earl was born.”

The center is also set to be on the schedules of several major tour groups in 2014, according to DCC organizers. An official with the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., visited during the American Legion World Series in interest of the possibility of a traveling exhibit visiting the Scruggs Center.

“Hopefully, as with all our visitors, they’ll come back the following year when we’re open,” Scruggs said, referring to the early visitors. “We know we’re going to draw people on Earl’s name. They’re going to leave knowing about this area.”

Reach Matthew Tessnear at 704-669-3331, at mtessnear@shelbystar.com or on Twitter @MatthewTessnear.

What’s planned?

* Scruggs Center opening in late November or early December of this year

* Grand opening events Jan. 11, 2014 – including a dedication and ribbon-cutting, open house, children’s activities on the square and an evening event, “Remembering Earl: Music & Stories,” at Shelby High School’s Malcolm Brown Auditorium, where Earl Scruggs performed in 2007 and 2009. The evening event will feature soon-to-be-announced nationally recognized artists.

* Once open, the center will welcome county residents with free admission on Wednesdays

Who could be coming?

DCC officials have said they expect big interest in the grand opening event Jan. 11, 2014, due to the names who will be coming to perform.

Those acts haven't been announced, but Earl Scruggs performed with dozens of world-renowned artists over the years.

Here are some of the key dates in the development of the Scruggs Center:

2006 – Destination Cleveland County begins as a citizen task force to work on two economic development projects, the Don Gibson Theatre (which opened in November 2009) and the soon-to-open Earl Scruggs Center

2008 – Local capital campaign launched, which has to date raised more than $8.2 million; master plan completed for Earl Scruggs Center

2009 – Earl Scruggs, family members and friends filmed for use in Scruggs Center

2010 – Exhibit designs for center completed

2011 – Bidding and renovations began on Scruggs Center

2012 – Exhibit fabrication for Scruggs Center underway

2013 – Reviews of films, scripts, text panels and other exhibits; final fabrication of exhibit cases and interactive media components